c120.186x.01.13

Sunday Julyth 13 [1862]1

Dear John

I thought as I was

wrighting [sic] to George I would send you a I have a good mind not to though as ever I had to eat. here it is almost four week since we received a letter from you2 and I have had two from George why dont [sic] you write oftener. you dont [sic] know how bad Ma3 feels about it and she is so sick it worries her more than if she was well. I am affraid [sic] that she never will get well she has been sick so long. but I will write often so as to let you know how she gets along. there has been a great battle in front of Richmond4 and has been a great many of our

Vermonters killed wounded or taken Prisoners. we have heard from them all excepting Hammond I had a line from him the day before the battle but have not heard from him since. I will send you a paper with the list of the killed or wounded or missing. Pa saw Sayles the other day he had been to see Jones and he said he had paid Chase5 your board bill6 he saw it on the books but the other Jones he said he hadnt [sic] time to attend to it now Pa says [—-] enough he [—–]. but he says he has not got his pay yet he is going again as soon as the 2nd Regt. get off they are going on Tuesday. Jones told Sayles he paid Chase seven hundred dollars. did you get the papers and letters I sent you George writes he had a great time going up to Vicksburg7 when they got to Grand Gulph8 [sic] they found it deserted then he said

they commenced the grand work of destruction he said he liked to killed himself chaseing [sic] Pigs and chickens he went out and brought out [sic] in a yearling calf and killed and dressed it alone then9 [—] up all night and fried a whole quarter then he boiled the rest and made soup of it. Louke come home the other day from Rutland he says he intends to go to NY. Willie was here too but has gone back to R. he dont [sic] intend to go South again if he can help it. Pa has got sore eyes and cant [sic] go out doors [sic]. so you see we cant [sic] get along very well have you got your pay ye10t. here comes Father Boylon and Deacon Boland and I must give up for to night. Monday. Eve Father B inquired for you. Clara has just come from the Office with two papers from

you but no letter. I see in the New York Herald the notice of a great many resignations but11 not yours among the rest why dont you resign. Ma is a little more comfortable to night we have heard from Hammond he is all right. Newell Briggs12 [is] [——]ing / recruiting here I am told. do you get my papers. John when you get your money you had better send it North and put it in the Bank13 what you dont [sic] want to use of it if anything should happen to you it would be all lost and another thing you could not opend [sic] it George signed the allotment roll14 to his will be all [safe] for him if he ever comes home, I do hope you will send Kate and I some more money15 we havent [sic] had any thing [sic] new this summer. Neal Murry was wounded and Cal Carr is dead. Charlie Segar has come home he has got three wounds one bucke shot on the neck. he says he wont [sic] have that [—–] and if he did he [–] says in the cours [sic] of five years they would say that he never had been Capt of the Company. I [loss] cant [sic] write any more to night. but I will write after Ma says take good care of yourself for if you should get sick again you would have a hard time [illegible] Ma says tell John that Kate is snarling like a little terrier dog because you dont [sic] come home.

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and [Clara] says your dont [sic] says you dont [sic] say anything about her she thinks you have forgotten her she says you used to be kissing her all the time17 and now you dont [sic] say a word.

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Clara is going to write to you we all Send our love to you You Good Bye write every [time] Eliza

Works Cited “Agriculture & Industry in Vermont.” National Parks Service. U.S. Department of the Interior, n.d. Web. 19 March 2016. Benedict, G. G., and Wm. C. Holbrook, Col. History of the Seventh Regiment Vermont Volunteers. Burlington: Free Association, 1891. Google Books. Web. 20 March 2016. Burton, Brian. “The Peninsula Campaign.” Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, n.d. Web. 17 March 2016. “Civil War Love Letters.” Special Collections. Virginia Tech, n.d. Web. 17 March 2016. “Mail Service and the Civil War.” Mail History. United States Postal Service, 2012. Web. 18 March 2016. Moots, Paul. “Financing The Civil War.” Timeline 27.4 (2010): 36-53. America: History & Life. Web. 20 March 2016. Whalen, Stephen Raymond. “`Everything Is the Same’: The Civil War Home Front in Rural Vermont.” Dissertation Abstracts International 61. (2000). America: History & Life. Web. 21 March 2016.

1 Originally this was thought to be 1863 due to Vicksburg references, however the day-of-the-week calculator indicates 1862. 2 It was common for soldiers and their loved ones to write to each other constantly, but in the 1860s it would take a week or more for delivery. It was much more common for letters to be lost in the transition, or be otherwise undeliverable; for the first three months of the war, soldiers had an especially hard time sending letters to the homefront because stamps were not always readily available or practical for carrying around. Beginning in July 1861 – a year before this letter was written – envelopes from the battlefield simply needed to say “soldiers letter” in place of a stamp, and the person receiving the letter would pay postage. (US Postal Service) 3 The letters from the homefront often addressed the emotional stress and loneliness caused by the separation with the loved ones. (Whalen) 4 This was probably what we now know as the Peninsula Campaign (Battle of Richmond would not take place until August). McClellan initiated the campaign in an attempt to seize Richmond, but ultimately suffered defeat to Lee and the Confederates. (Encyclopedia Virginia) 5 Could she be referring to the Treasury Secretary Salmon P Chase? He was the one leading the implementation of the National Banking System and the increase in income taxation. Maybe people used his last name to refer to the tax? 6 It was very common that homefront families rented rooms for boarders in order to get a complement of revenue during the war. Did John have to be hosted by another family of the area on his way to the front? (Whalen) 7 The 7th Regiment, Vermont Volunteer Infantry was engaged in the first military strike against Vicksburg in 1962 (Holbrook) 8 This is an alternate spelling of Grand Gulf, which lies thirty miles south of Vicksburg, Mississippi. The Battle of Grand Gulf did not take place until 1863, however, so this was probably just an indication of less significant troop movements. Indeed, Eliza writes that George “had a great time” in Vicksburg before finding Grand Gulf deserted – not exactly an indication of battle. 9 Agriculture has always been at the fore of Vermont industry. Before and during the Civil War, a lack of railroad infrastructure to the west meant the Vermont was not only in close proximity to eastern industries, but had a strong geographical advantage in terms of agricultural development. In rural areas (which was and still is most of the state), farm animals were a common part of the family livelihood. (National Parks Service) 10 A lot of soldiers in Vermont enrolled in the military for pecuniary reasons to increase the family income (not always patriotic). More and more of them came from lower socio-economic class. Most of the letters from the homefront expressed financial concerns. 1962 was indeed a year of particular financial struggle for the Union since the original war financing plan had underestimated the length of the conflict and brought the Unions financial system near collapse. Congress passed a bill in early 1962 to encourage the nationalization and uniformization of the banking system. This would enable the government to maintain the support of the banks which were largely financing the war. All of these changes affected the financial balance of the households (Paul Moots) 11 Like in any war, soldiers with the an officers rank had the option of resigning their position. We know that John was a Second Lieutenant, though it seems that Eliza would have rather had her brother home helping with the pigs and chickens. 12 Nersell Briggs was probably a local recruiter for the Union. His name is not listed in any major database. 13 The department of treasury progressively imposed a National Banking system that was finally adopted in the North in 1863. The goal was to provide a uniform national currency which would help the Union government to pay for the war. It is interesting that Eliza is referring to the North and not Vermont. It shows that up to 1862 the Northerners trusted enough the federalized system to not having to specify their State. Maybe the government was also doing some propaganda inciting citizens to place their money to the bank, making them participate to the war effort. 14 Most likely a means of signing over goods and/or property if something should happen to him, or securing them in the event of his return home. 15 Women in the homefront in rural New England had a central role in maintaining the family structure and preserve the family economy in the absence of men. Eliza has probably became involved with this as her mothers health seems to have deteriorated. She probably helped her keeping account of the familys money, doing manual labor or balancing farm assets. (Whalen) 16 Paper was not as cheap and reusable, or as abundant and accessible, as it is today. Many letters from the 19th century are covered with text - from between lines to the margins and everywhere in between. During the Civil War, especially, resources were low; if Eliza wrote in the margins to John, she would have an extra piece of paper for a letter to George, for example. 17 Distance aside, romance was still on the minds of young soldiers and women on the homefront. This last note verges on soap opera. Clara, however, would surely not have understood how difficult it was for John to find the time as well as the necessary materials to write a letter while on the battlefront. It shows how young couples in 1862 faced the same pangs of jealousy and agitation that come with any modern relationship. —————